Blog 4 EDU 411

I got the chance to interact with the families of our center during drop off and pick up. I interacted with the parents of the prekindergarten and the infant rooms. The parents in the prekindergarten class bring their child into the classroom and sign them in. I noticed that many parents are very quick to drop off and the teacher barely has time to ask how their morning was, and for parents not even to give a kiss to their child. I loved to see how the teacher quickly went to those children, talked to them and sat with them a minute. The children all were very happy entering the room. The parents that did stay a few minutes asked the teacher questions about what they were doing that day or about the homework.

I also had the chance to sit in on an end of year parent/teacher conference. The teacher went over the assessment with the parents and some ideas and resources to use over the summer with their child. It was great interaction and positive feedback from both parties. The parents were very pleased with curriculum and the progress their child had done.

I noticed the parents in the infant room do stay longer. They have a sheet that has to be filled out every morning letting the teachers know how their child is and the last time of a feeding. One parent said that they come a few minutes earlier so that they can stay and talk to the teachers about their baby and any new things that the baby is doing at school. There seemed to be a closer bond with the families and the teachers.

This center also has a lot of parent involved activities so that parents can be more involved. There is a parent advisory council that meets every month to discuss future events and current situations in the school. Parents are invited to participate in all classroom parties, attend weekly “read to our class” sessions, have conferences whenever needed, and the school also hosts Parent Night Out once a month. The parents that I was able to talk to are happy with the center, the teachers and the care their child receives. They feel comfortable when they leave in the morning and with the care and nurturing their child is receiving.

BLOG 3

I am spending most of my time in the four/five year old classroom. It is amazing how the children know that it is close to end of the school year for them; they end on June 7^th.  They are having a hard time focusing and listening and the teacher is using incentives to get them to pay attention. She has a treasure box, surprise toys she does not take out often, a reward chart, and allows the children to take longer turns at the computer if they have had good days. This has helped, however she has center time now twice in the morning to allow the children more free choice time and social interaction at reasonable levels and this has made it better. I have noticed that this has improved because the children are now ready to move on; they learned what they had to, (they are reviewing) and now they can practice what they have learned as they play. They share, role plays, write, and communicate in all centers of the classroom. This is the area of interest for my paper and I am witnessing it live; how children learn through play and integrating the arts into their curriculum and schedule.

 I find this to be a challenge myself in my classroom because my students are also acting up a bit and I think they are bored. We have been on the same schedule for the whole year. I too am changing things up a little and making things more unpredictable to keep the students interested and wondering what will happen next. Having discussions with them about their likes and interests keeps them wanting to hear about each other’s story.

As I spent time with the director, there were many things she was tending to at once. She has been working as a director for twenty years. Her main concern are the students, however she deals more with the parents and the teachers. There are always parent concerns or complaints. The teachers need help with students, getting supplies, or cleaning the room. The director has a lot to manage such as, payroll hours, children’s safety and health, sufficient food and supplies. The director is involved in the classrooms; she always walks around observing the activities in each classroom and since she brings tours throughout the days, loves to see the children learning in areas of the classrooms through play. After speaking with her, she says that the majorities of the parents care about their child being happy, safe, and respected above all and wants the education and learning to happen alongside that. It was great to see the school and classroom through her vision and to have play be such an acceptable part of every classroom, from infants though pre-kindergarten.

Blog #2

I feel lucky to have the opportunity to interact daily with a great group of teachers, staff, parents, and great children. I work at a private preschool for ages six weeks to five year olds. My topic for my research paper is integrating play and the arts into the curriculum; therefore I spoke to two teachers about this topic. They are lead teachers at the school, Ms. Jessica a three year old teacher and Ms.Yaky a four year old teacher. They both have different styles of teaching yet the teachers believe that play is a major part of implementing their lessons as well as a part of their daily routines. As I observed their classrooms, it was clear that the children were interested in what they were doing as well as making their own choices to where and what they wanted to play with.

They each had great ideas for me as to how to integrate play in the curriculum; through music, dramatic play, and acting out stories, aside from the regular playground fun and games. We also all agreed on the importance of play in the classroom for the child’s socio-emotional development, to learn to express their feelings, to share, and for building their own sense of responsibility.  Ms. Jessica says that she assesses her three year olds best as they are playing because she feels that she gets “the whole picture as they play”.

I especially enjoyed seeing how enthusiastic the teachers got as they would tell me their ideas or how they implement a certain lesson. Ms. Yaky the four year old teacher said “I see play as a valuable piece of their education, through play they learn at their own pace and level”. This year I had several different learning styles in my classroom, I really implemented play and the arts into my lessons. In this way I was able to reach each child as well as offer various activities that would keep each child interested. I think that the children will benefit from this type of learning because it provides them with a comfortable feeling of confidence to learn in their own way.